Car seal



patented .thug itl, i925..

LOUIS J'. BRUNE, SE., Gli NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

GAR SEAL.

Application filed August 14, 1924:. Serial No. 732,100.

To all 'io/rom t may concern:

lle it known that l, Louis J.. BRUNE, Sr., a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at N ew Qrleans, in the parish of Orleans, State ofLouisiana, have invented a new and useful Car Seal; and l do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and enact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to malte and use the same.

The invention relates to car seals, and has for its object to provide adevice of this character constructed in a manner whereby if the seal iseut or tampered with the same may be easily detected, and constructed ina manner whereby a sealing tool is obviated and the body of the sealformed from glass 'which is transparent, and frangible, conse quentlythe seal may be easily opened by an authorized person by simply breakingthe glass body member.

A. further object is to provide a seal comprising a glass body memberhaving spaced chambers therein, and a U-shaped member formed from springwire. and having its arms provided with enlargements disposed in thechambers of the body member, Vone of the enlargements being placed inthe chamber through an aperture in the body member, and engaging theupper end of the chamber for holding the body member on the arms.

A fiuther object is to position the enlargements carried by the arms inthe chambers of the body member in positions wherel'y, when either armis severed, the lower portions thereof will drop downwardly therebyforming a space between the severed ends of the arms and allowing thesame to be easily observed, from a distance.

llilith the above and other objects in view the invention resides in thecombination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth, shown inthe drawing, described and claimed, it being understood that changes inthe precise embodiment of the invention may be made within the scope ofwhat is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention. 1

In the drawing:-

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the bodymember, showing the lll-shaped wire member carried thereby.

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view talren on line 2N2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the seal.

Figure et is a perspective View of the split end of one of the armsbefore said ends have been bent upwardly.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates the body of the seal,which body is formed from a frangible material, pref* erably glass asshown. The body 1 is provided with spaced vertically disposed chambers 2and 3, into which chambers the arms l and 5 of the U-shaped wire member6 eX- tend. The wire member 6 is formed from spring wire and is providedwith a convolution 7 at its upper end, which convolution, when eitherwires l or 5 are cut, will force the upper end or portion of the armoutwardly to a position whereby it will be easy a person to ascertain ifthe seal has been cut without a close examination of the seal.

The lower end of the arm d is provided with` an enlargement 8 which isdisposed within the chamber 2, and positioned in said chamber inrelation to the upper end tiereof, whereby the U-shaped member as awhole may assume an upward position with the lower end of the arm 5above the flared endY 9 of the aperture 10 which is in communicationwith the chamber 3, therefore it will be seen that the arm 5 may bepassed through a staple eye of the car door, and the lower end of thearm 5 forced downwardly into the fared end 9 of the aperture 10, therebybending or flexing the spring fingers 11 carried by the arm 5 into closeengagement with` the arm 5 until the spring fingers 11 enter the chamber3, at which time they will flex outwardly into engagement with the upperend or wall 12 of the chamber 3, and prevent the body member 1 frombeing removed from the arms 4t and 5.

The arm t extends through an aperture 13 in the upper end of the bodymember and into the chamber 2. lt will be noted that when the device issealed as shown in Figure 1, the enlargement 8 is spaced from the lowerend 14e of the chamber 2 as well as from the upper end thereof,therefore it will be seen that if an unauthorized person should cut thewire at any point the lower portion of the wire l will drop downwardy,thereby forming a relatively wide gap in the wire which may be easilyobserved from a distance without a close inspection thereof. lf the wire5 is severed the body member 1 will drop downwardly as well as the lowerportion of the arm 5, therefore a relatively Wide gap Will be formed inthe arm 5 Whichwould be easily observed from a distance. -Iowever uponthe severing of either arm t or 5, the spring convolution 7 will forcethe upper portion of the severed arm outwardly to further disassociatethe parts for attracting attention. The arm d may be provided with ametallic strip 15, on which indicia may be impressed, however it is tobe understood that this may be eliminated if desired. The lower end ofthe arm 5 is preferably split as shown in Figure l to form the fingers11, which fingers are bentl back onto themselves so as to inclineoutwardly and upwardly as shown in Figure 1, and to spread after beingforced through the tapered portion 9, and aperture 10 and into thechamber The tapered portion 9 allows the arm to be easily started intothe aperture 10. Then it is desired to remove the seal, it may be doneby cutting the arms 4 or 5, or breaking the glass body 1.

From the above it will be seen that a car seal is provided which ispositive in its operation, simple in construction and one wherein thedevice Will easily show if it has been tampered With Without thenecessity of a close and minute inspection thereof.

The invention having been set forth what is claimed as neu7 and usefulis:

1. A car seal comprising a body member having spaced chambers therein, alll-shapedv spring member, parallel arms carried by said spring memberand extending through apertures in the body member and into the chambersthereof, an enlargement carried by one of said. arms and engaging theupper end of one of the chambers, thereby entirely supporting the bodymem-ber, an enlarge ment carried by the other arm and disposed in theother chamber of the body member, said last named enlargement beingspaced from the opposite ends of the chamber.

2. A car seal comprising a glass body member having spaced chamberstherein, a.

U-shaped spring member, parallel arms car ried by said spring member, aspring convolution connecting said arms at their upper ends and normallyforcing said arms outwardly, said arms extending through apertures inthe body member and into the chambers, one of said arms being providedwith spreading means adapted to be forced through one of the aperturesand into engagementA with the upper end of said chamber, the other armbeing provided With an enlargement disposed in the other chamber of thebody member and spaced from the ends thereof.

3. A car seal comprising a body member having spaced chambers therein,apertures extending through one end of the body member in communicationwith the chambers and haring one of their ends flared, a U-shaped memberformed from spring Wire, spring means for forcing said arms apart, saidarms extending through the apertures and into the chambers of the bodymember, one of said arms being provided with upturned spring fingersadapted to be contracted when forced through the flared por tions of oneof the apertures and to extend into engagement with the upper end of oneof the chambers and an enlargement carried by the other arm and spacedfrom the ends of the other chamber.

ln testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

LOUIS J. BRUNE, Sr.

